Yoshiki is best known to the world as the founder of the Japan’s most successful and well known rock band that started the whole visual kei genre that many of today’s artists have followed. What some fans outside of Japan might not know is that he is also a classically trained composer and musician with over thirty million singles and albums sold under his belt. This was reflected in the Classical tour he had just concluded this year, which was what the Otakon Sunday Concert was based on.
Having just concluded their 2015 Hello World Tour in Hong Kong, Scandal had made three stops in the USA to give their international fans a glimpse into their powerful concerts with two live house shows in Los Angeles and one convention show in Chicago. The-O Network was privileged enough to attend and provide photo and concert coverage of the events.
For those that are into the J-Rock and Anime scene, chances are you probably came across the internationally well-known all girls band Scandal’s music. The band is currently on their worldwide tour to spread their music, having just finished their Europe, Singapore, and Taiwan stops. Check out some photos from their Singapore concert, and will be providing you coverage of their three USA stops in the upcoming weeks, be on a lookout as we’ll be having giveaways from the band themselves.
As I'm sure that you're already familiar with this artist from seeing all the concert coverage reports we have produced, LiSA is no stranger to being under the spotlight and rocking out her tunes to a sold out concert. Having just finished her two day Budokan concert, LiSA made haste to begin her world tour with her first stop at Anime Boston, and The-O Network was privileged enough to be at the event to provide coverage of the powerful concert.
In conjunction with Otakon Vegas 2015, Japanese and anime music label Lantis Records recently announced that they will be bringing seven major artists to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on January 16th and 17th to spread word about Anisong to American fans. Scheduled to tour across six cities, Lantis will be kicking off the ANISONG WORLD TOUR- LANTIS FESTIVAL in Nevada to bring American fans the enjoyment of anime and video game music.
Featured singers include: JAM Project, Yoko Ishida, Yousei Teikoku, ChouCho, Faylan, Sayaka Sasaki and bamboo of milktub fame.
By now you may have heard of the international hit sensation Perfume. Their music has been featured in Pixar's Cars 2 movie and they recently made a cameo appearance in American alternative rock group OK Go's music video, "I Won't Let You Down." On November 9, 2014, after two “World Tours” oddly both skipping North America, I am composing this article as Perfume is performing live on stage at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Check out our report!
Luna Haruna is well known for her love of anime and manga culture. As a singer, her music has been featured in Fate/Zero and Sword Art Online. Luna tweeted photos from her visit to the Gundam Expo World Tour in Akihabara. Check out below for more information.
Earlier this week, the official Japanese website for the pop duo ClariS was updated with a character visual for the newest member Karen, illustrated by Otohiko Takano. As the replacement for Alice, who left the duo to focus on her studies, Karen made her debut with the song "Clear Sky," which was included as a bonus CD with M-ON! Entertainment's Lis Ani! Magazine.
The magazine also revealed that the duo will be singing the ED for the upcoming Tsukimonogatari anime, Border and that they will be doing their very first live show during Lis Ani! Live 5 on January 25, 2015.
As part of the Lantis Festival 2014 Tokyo Live, it was announced by Jam project member, Kageyama Hironobu that there will be an Overseas tour tour starting in Las Vegas from January 16-17th, followed by a stop in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei and one additional city.
For fans of video game JRPG series Persona, Shoji Meguro's evocative compositions have always played a key role in accentuating the immersive environments found in the Shin Megami Tensei, Catherine and Trauama Center video game series. Most recently, his popularity has skyrocketed thanks to in part to his Persona 3 and Persona 4 soundtracks featuring the vocals of Shihoko Hirata, Lotus Juice and Yumi Kawamura.
My Sunday began at the San Diego Comic Con. By nightfall it ended at the feet of Babymetal. These idols turned metal princesses are some of the youngest that you will see on stage and have gained plenty of attention in the last year where they went from a national act to an international one in no time flat. They've sold out the Budokan, played festivals like Japan's Summer Sonic and UK's Sonisphere, and now they're on US soil; the invasion has begun.
Although wolves might be extinct in the wilderness of Japan, they continue to live on the stage in the music industry. On July 8, the Japanese band, Man With A Mission, graced San Francisco with their presence. The venue was at the Bottom of the Hill in the Portrero Hill neighborhood. Compared to some of the venues I've been to before, the one that Man With A Mission played at was tiny. They've sold out places like the Nippon Budokan and various arenas around Japan as well as appeared at France's massive Japan Expo. For a band that only a few years ago was self-produced, they have had a meteoric rise.
After being excluded from the first two world tours, fans in America can finally rejoice as the hit electronica idol group Perfume will be performing in the United States on November 9th, 2014 in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium. Oddly enough, the group will also be performing on November 15th, 2014 at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York after performing in the UK on November 12th.
The Hollywood Palladium has a capacity of 3700 people while the Hammerstein can hold 2200 people and tickets will be handled through Ticket Master at roughly $35 not counting any additional applicable fees. No word yet when tickets will become available or on tour goods yet but we’ll let know as soon as more information is released. Besides USA and the UK, Taiwan and Singapore will also be part of the tour stop. We've included the tour trailer announcement below.
Which song would you want to see Perfume perform live?
You can find some additional information on the world tour's official page.
UPDATE: Tickets will be available to purchase here on Friday June 27, 2014 at 9AM PDT and be $48.35 ($35 ticket + $13.35 fee.) You may purchase presale tickets a day early on Thursday at 10AM PDT if you enter the presale code: loyalfan
Over the weekend, Japanese idol group AKB48 announced the vote count results for the AKB48 37th Single Senbatsu General Election at Ajinomoto Stadium. For this election, the top 80 girls were chosen; an increase over the previous 64 girls from past elections. 263 girls were eligible for candidacy including members from AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48. Unlike last year, girls who were previously incumbent members of AKB-affiliated groups for more than four years were not eligible.